Sources: Chiefs sign free-agent defensive tackle Cory Grissom

The Chiefs have signed defensive tackle Cory Grissom to a one-year deal, two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Star on Wednesday. He gives the team someone else to evaluate as a nose guard.

The Chiefs have signed defensive tackle Cory Grissom to a one-year deal, two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Star on Wednesday. The news was first reported by the National Football Post.

Grissom, 23, is listed at 6 feet 1 and 316 pounds. He went undrafted out of South Florida in 2013 but signed with the New England Patriots last season as a free agent.

Grissom, billed as a run-stopper in his pre-draft profile by NFL.com, logged five total tackles in three preseason games with the Patriots, posting an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 1.6. He also had a run defense grade of 3.0 and a pass defense grade of negative-1.7.

Grissom, however, suffered an ankle injury in the Patriots’ third preseason game and was later placed on injured reserve. The Patriots released him on March 10.

Grissom profiles as a true nose-guard type, and the Chiefs already have a Pro Bowler at that position in third-year veteran Dontari Poe. However, Poe played 1,004 snaps last season, the most of any player at the position, according to Pro Football Focus.

Grissom is just the latest in a long string of nose guards the Chiefs have brought in over the last six months, a list that includes Anthony Toribio (now retired), Jerrell Powe (now with Houston) and Kyle Love (still unsigned).

Before Grissom’s arrival, the Chiefs listed four players (other than Poe) as defensive tackles on the roster, including Risean Broussard, Chas Alecxih, Jaye Howard and Vance Walker.

Of those six, only Poe and Walker — who just signed a three-year deal worth a maximum of $13.75 million — should be considered sure bets to make the roster when the season starts.